India's eastern severe storm death toll rises to 77

At least 38 persons were killed in North Dinajpur district in the eastern state of West Bengal, while the death toll in its neighboring Bihar's four district rose to 39, the Indo-Asia News Service reported.

The high velocity storm, which broke out at about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, lasted nearly one hour, resulting in the destruction of more than 50,000 houses and paralyzing the local power and communication systems overnight.

West Bengal Civil Defense Minister Mukherjee said he felt it was more than a mere common storm, describing the situation as " very grave." Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he would visit the affected areas to assess the situation.

The two states had asked their officials to give up their holidays so as to provide relief to affected people, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com for full version.